Meet The Lost Abbey’s new winter seasonal, Gnoel de Abbey, a holiday brown ale. It was announced in late October, and after one look at the festive elf party on the label it didn’t do anything but heighten our excitement for the holidays!

Bell’s Brewery releases not one, but two winter seasonals. Their Winter White Ale, a Belgian inspired wheat, and this Christmas Ale, which is a Scottish ale. That’s not a style we drink very often, so we were looking forward to it.

Sleighwreck had a very clean finish for a dark ale, and especially for a winter spiced ale. We wished it was a little more viscous for a holiday offering, but it was also more drinkable in that lighter regard.

AleSmith Double Red IPA debuted in October, but we have been enjoying this holiday ale for years! Huh? What? How is that possible exactly? This fall, AleSmith YuleSmith Winter Holiday Ale was re-branded.

Hopslam started sweet from the honey, and then some bitterness began to form. Then all of a sudden — BAM! It slammed into your tastebuds, with a bigger punch of hops over a sweet underlying layer of malt.

I’m going to try something new for this review, (more like recommendation) and combine two beers into one post: Santa’s Little Helper, and the special edition Bourbon Barrel Aged Santa’s Little Helper.